Posts
Aquascaping the pond was initially fun and relaxing, the big boulders were a fair amount of work though. My first attempt was a bit too "fake" looking. A suggestion, only use flagstone for the waterfall, not for "liner coverage" on the upper sides. It definitely made it look too fake. Also, the more larger size boulders and rocks you can use up top, the more natural I found the pond looks.
Landscaping was quite easy and added a lot, as well as the final touches of the flagstone trim and mexican pebbles. I'm not real happy with my fake Heron - but I've heard they are a big problem in our area. Hopefully I can eventually get rid of him.
One other mistake we made was leveling the bottom pond. As you can see in the photo, the water level is not real high towards the edge, so the liner is very visible. However, what you cannot see is the water level at the edge of the pond at the front edge of the photo. The bottom of the pond was not leveled correctly, so the water level at the front edge is 2" below the flagstone, where at the back edge (left and right sides in the photo) its about 4". I'm hoping some plants may cover the liner - however I would love to get any suggestions!
I will be installing the pond lights this week, I have a selection of LED lights and will take photos of them.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Finished!
Installation Continued...
We placed concrete blocks on the sides of the water fall to wrap the liner around. I had enough liner to install the main pond (bottom) and the waterfall all with one piece. We used some left over liner material and put an extra layer over each of the waterfall steps, which worked out well. We were able to fold the liner multiple times to give some good support.
On both steps, we "cupped" one large piece of liner into a U shape - and channeled the water into a waterfall. It worked well, but I would still HIGHLY recommend purchasing a waterfall filter.
Pond Installation
Installing the pond was a bit more hard work than I had anticipated - lots and lots of rock moving. I'm using one of the new William Lim 1/15th hp Wave Pumps (it pumps 3000 gph @ 3.4', only 1.3 amps), an Aquadyne Ultima II Filter and a 25 watt UV sterilizer. We installed a Tetra 3" bottom drain and are also using one of the Niche' Surface skimmers.
Here is a photo of the pond completely empty with the drain lines installed. The hole on the left is the Tetra Bottom Drain, the fitting on the right will attach to the surface skimmer. We added a layer of sand over the entire bottom and waterfall steps before installing the liner.
After the installation was completed, there were only a few things I would change if I did it over again:
- Using a pre-formed waterfall filter will definitely make the waterfall installation easier. I used extra liner & rock - it worked, but it wasn't easy. The waterfall filter will add some biological filtration, and they are much cheaper online versus a local Home Depot. I'd highly recommend using one of these and purchasing it online.
- Install a check valve on the suction side if your pump is above the water level. I installed my check valve right after the outlet of the pump and I'm already having some issues with the pump self priming. I'll likely move it later, but I'd recommend installing it down by your bottom drain.
- Don't mix ABS fittings with PVC - the Tetra Bottom Drain is 3" PVC and fits directly into a 3" PVC 90. I used an ABS 3" 90 elbow, it worked but adapting to 2" PVC was not fun. Eventually I had to use a Fernco coupling above the water line to adapt it.
- Take advantage of flexible PVC pipe. I used both in my pond, the flexible PVC pipe is really worth the extra cost and can help reduce friction loss, increasing energy efficiency.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
New Pumps
I'm not really into the skimmer craze and new designs - but I was very impressed by these new pumps made by Reef Octopus in China. They were very quiet and well made.
New Lighting Combo's
This was a beautiful aquarium - lit with 6 T5HO lamps and a row of high output LED's.
